Russian forces destroy world's largest plane that frequented Shannon Airport

THE WORLD'S largest plane, that had previously visited Shannon Airport, has been destroyed by Russian forces in Ukraine. 

It is reported that the Antonov AN-225 was destroyed at the Antonov airfield in Gostomel near Kyiv, yesterday, 

The plane was undergoing maintenance in a hangar at the airfield when Russian forces moved in. 

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies show significant damage to the hangar where the aircraft was being stored. 

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry confirmed in a statement that the plane had been destroyed and would be re-built "at the expense of the Russians". 

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The statement read: "The occupiers destroyed the airplane, but they won’t be able to destroy our common dream. Mriya will definitely be reborn.

"The restoration is estimated to take over 3 bln USD and over 5 years. Our task is to ensure that these costs are covered by the Russian Federation, which has caused intentional damage to Ukraine’s aviation and the air cargo sector.

"Russia has destroyed our "Mriya" (laterally translated as “lathe “dream”), but the dream of Ukraine to get free from the occupier cannot be destroyed."

The Mriya touched down in Shannon numerous times, most recently in October 2021, when it landed carrying a cargo consignment from China for distribution in the Irish retail sector.

In June 2020 the aircraft visited Shannon carrying the single largest consignment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to be flown into Ireland on a single flight.

The six-storey-high plane was the only one of its kind. It had a wingspan of 88 metres, 32 wheels and was capable of carrying 640,000kgs on take-off.